


Leliya and The Resistance

by ai_R_lla (Rai_practicewritter12)



Category: Wheel of Time - Robert Jordan
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:14:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27788080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rai_practicewritter12/pseuds/ai_R_lla
Summary: Leliya, a young Seanchan Marath'damane. Runs away from being collared.
Comments: 1





	Leliya and The Resistance

Leliya trembled with excitement. New testing was supposed to arrive in town to search for people with the skills to be sul'dam. And Leliya knew she could pass and become a sul'dam. She and her sister, Teila, have been sharing a secret from everyone else. That sometimes they feel a connection to something greater. Something divine. She is nervous though, the testing will happen in a few hours, and she, at only twelve, will become the youngest sul'dam to ever exist. She’s certain she’d be accepted.

After an hour, a knock sounded at the door, and Leliya saw the women come in. Bearing lighting bolts down their clothing, they’re the sul'dam that’ll test her. But, they started screaming. They held out a leash and tackled Teila to the ground. Causing blood to gush out of her head, soaking the floor with her blood. Leliya was staring at her sister being pummelled with the sul'dam’s whip with pure terror. She had to run away to her parents, but they were there begging to the sul'dam, “we promise you honored one, we do not share her taint. Take her away, kill her if you must, I don’t want anything to do with that damane.” 

“Damane, Teila was a Damane, Teila was… I am a Damane.” She needed to run. She couldn’t handle watching her sister be beat half to death with whips. She couldn’t be a part of them, so she sneaked out the back kitchen, and ran through the bushes into the forest. She knew that instance, that she was a monster. But, she will not give herself up.

The town Rashi, well a village really, was a small congestion of huts, homes, and wilderness. Rashi was mainly a hunting village, with a road running through the center, and forests all around. The back of her house led deep into one of these forests as they lived in the outskirts. Leliya used to go hunting with her parents, so she knows the trails to safety. She remembers sneaking through these forests with Teila to catch frogs. “I can still hear her screams from the forests, I can’t stop this though, I have to run.”

The images of her sister being whipped, she couldn’t banish the thoughts. She remembers seeing damane when her family visited the capital. They were treated like animals, they were animals… but. As she ran she heard footsteps, and, is that thunder. They’re chasing me, of course, they are. “I have to escape to Uiltea”. The sounds of the sul'dam echoed through the trees, “come here damane if you stop I’ll give you sweets.”

Uiltea was a city nearby by Rashi, it was one of the larger cities in Seanchan. She is certain that there she can hide. Uiltea is a majestic city, and from what she hears from her parents, is not controlled by the Empress. She didn’t know why it wasn’t controlled by the Empress, but she knew this also meant it shouldn’t be controlled by sul'dam. By running up this stream she’ll eventually connect to the river that leads to the city in a three-day hike. She can live under the shadows like she’s seen the other kids do there. But first, she needs to escape her pursuers. She grabbed a fist-sized rock from the stream and held it with her mouth, then climbed a tree near her. She then waited for the sul'dam to come.

“I have to knock them out, but damn I don’t know how many there are.” She heard the footsteps, it's only a pair. “I can’t do this, damn it, Teila, what are they doing to you.” She steeled her nerves, and she felt her secret, no the power emanating from the world whispering into her that she can escape, that she can be free. The sul'dam sneaked under the tree Leliya was hiding on. And as the sul'dam started to look around, Leliya jumped at her with her stone in hand.

She landed with a bang. As she dropped her to the ground, she repeatedly smashed the stone in her skull. Her vision was all red, and all she felt was the power, the One Power, “THIS IS FOR TEILA!”. After a minute, She looked up as her vision cleared she saw her surroundings, blood coated everything, there were parts of the brain splattered everywhere. “What’s happening, where am I… Oh, light I… I killed someone, I was just supposed to escape.” “Nooo Mistress! don’t hurt her” the damane sat up on her back, holding a stick, tears gushing down her terrified face. “I, I’m sorry” and she did feel it. But she needed to escape. So she threw the rock at the damane, knocking her out. With the power whispering in her ear in the back of her skull, she ran to Uiltea, she ran for freedom.

The next three days were calm, she spent the majority of it running, hunting, gathering, and sleeping under leaves and dirt. But her goal was near. The walls of Uiltea were becoming clear, and the gates were open to allow the crowd of visitors. Her goal, for now, was to sneak into the crowd and act like a hunter’s apprentice. She dressed up in animal skin, with blood still dripping down her body from the skins, and held a dead fox. She drew nears as the guards drew her to the side, “where are you from”, anxiety crippled her speech but the power in the back was comforting. “I’m a hunter’s apprentice from Rashi, I came here to sell some hide”. The guards were either pleased with her ruse or didn’t care because she was able to sneak in with a ruse baked up in three days. 

After coming in, Leliya immediately tried to sell everything on her. She needed to get enough money and hide for a while to plan out her escape. She needed to escape Seanchan. “I need to hide, I can beg and work odd jobs. I just need to calm down.” After a few hours wandering the streets of Uiltea, she started to get hungry. And exhausted. The surroundings were sleet bricks and tight houses. She was in the slums of the city. She noticed an air of anxiety, “what is this, I feel like a storm is coming.” She went into a small store where they sold skewers, and she felt a tugging. She asked the butcher for a skewer, then she tugged. “Here, have this, I know it’s rough with the siege coming.” “Oh thank you,” she felt shocked.

“He gave it to me for free… a siege?” Now that she paid attention the surrounding wasn’t just full of anxious people, but terrified people. She continued down to the nicer parts of the slums, with some bushes to mark a square. “The Empress is tired of us, they’ll come tonight with their bloody sul'dam!” A crowd was forming in the square, each roaring “death to Empress”. “How hasn’t the Empress controlled this city yet.” She felt a sense of dread build up. “No blood wants to keep this city anymore, the Empress will kill us all, we need to resist.” The square erupted with cheering, and Leliya knew there’s no hope for her to plan an escape. She just needed to survive. 

To her surprise, the next few days were relatively calm. The rioters didn’t actually do anything, they just went home. Apparently, there wasn’t a literal siege, but a political one. Trade decreased, most are out of work, violence is rampant, and everyone in the slums is starving. But she wasn’t chained. She continued to walk around, sleep in the alleys or sewers, and plan. “First, I need to learn how to use the power.” She found it strange that most people ignored a harmless-seeming girl in the lawless slums. But she credited her transparency, and the occasional generosity to her unconsciously channeling the power. She needed to practice and to find information on this “resistance”. 

Two weeks passed by and Leliya decided to start practicing her powers on the criminals in the streets. “Here this place is perfect.”, she was in an alley to the east side of the wall, surrounded by slums, and shrouded in shadows. This is a perfect crime zone, and Leliya left some bait, herself. After waiting for a few minutes, she noticed some shadows stirring in the dark. And three men appeared in front of her holding cudgels and sharpened glass. “Ah hell, what I’m I doing.”, however, in the midst of her anxiety, she felt the power. And her mind went black.

“Where I’m I.”. Someone full of grime struck her down and climbed on top of her, ripping her clothes off. “Fucckkkk”, panic cripled her, but the power, the power flooded her, and she played it like a harp. All she felt were the threads of power appear, and the man disappeared. “Huh”, her clothes reappeared and the other opportunists gasped. “I need to focus,” she didn’t repeat the same thing, but instead moved the very air, immobilising the culprits. The pure terror in the eyes of the criminals full her with glee, “I need to be more creative with this.”. She felt the threads all around her, reverberating with power. And she saw threads connecting everyone, and everything. She pulled on the strings connecting the two men, channeled some power into it, and melded them into a single thread infusing it into the guy holding the knife. Instantly, they both fell.

“The guy with the knife is still alive, but… he feels different.” She grabbed the guy with the knife, and ran into the sewers to her cubby hold, and feeling exhausted, passed out. 

She woke up the next morning kicking the guy she brought awake, still feeling all the strings everywhere. “AAHHH GET OUT, GET OUT GET OUT OF MY HEAD!”, the guy woke up in a seizure spitting foam everywhere. “Light, what did I do to him? '' she held him in place with air, “calm down your safe”, “wha, what did you do you bloody witch, I can’t get it out of my head”. He stood there still in the air, crying. “Shit, I must’ve combined the two souls into one. What should I do?”. Fear and panic drowned her thoughts, “damn everything I can’t leave them like this”. And she pulled one of the threads coming out of the body, and the sewers went still.

She continued practicing, for three months she continued playing with her power, pulling and making threads. And she figured out that there are five types of threads that surround the world, she found out how to manipulate all of them to some degree, and gained a bottomless confidence. Leliya was walking down the streets, hunting for food, and was ruminating on her original goal; escaping Seanchan. “A resistance force is building around the whole city, I can manipulate the leaders into running to a port town, steal a ship, and escape.” The plan was simple and doable. She sneaked her ways into one of the taverns, a hell. No one wonders why a little girl is in one of these, she could be a servant, or just another product. Leliya slid her way into conversation about various rebel groups. “Hmm, what’s this?” she heard peculiar whispers. “We can do this, we have everything set up, we can take five hundred people out of the city and run to the north, join the northern villages where the Empress doesn’t bother with.”. 

“This is a perfect opportunity,” Leliya felt around the threads that came out of the rebels, and lightly pulled on them. “Hey, is it ok if I sit here, I’m waiting for my father?”, “huh, oh of course it's ok”. Leliya sat on the stool beside the three hulking rebels, and, to her strings, completely ignored her. “Look Refi, in a week get all you can hold, and meet at the northern slum. We can escape at night.” the shortest of the three in pure black was trying to convince the other taller men who seemed doubtful. So, Leliya decided to pitch in with the guy, and channeled some of the power into the other two. “Damn me Leigh you’re right, we can’t live like this, any minute now the sul'dam will strike this whole city to cinders. We’ll gather our family and fight with you.”. The look of delight on Leigh’s face was worth manipulating the other two. The three stood up clasped hands, and Refi and his companion headed out. Then, Leliya pinched the man in black with air and he looked at her, surprise riddled his face.

“I gotta be smart with this… actually I’ll just use the power.” She prepared the strings to manipulate him, but… they were cut. “Light, what happened”, the man looked at her, and the pure terror that overwhelmed her risked shattering her spine. “Youu, kak”, she couldn’t stop stuttering. “Hmm, a marath'damane, tell me little girl, how is it that I didn’t notice you till now. Actually, don’t answer that, well now that you heard all of this you might as well join. The name’s Leigh, may you tell me yours free damane.” His eyes bore in her, they were black, with a hint of violet that looked like the eyes of the dark one. “Hiigh… hello, I’m Leliya, and I came here to join this resistance and escape the Empire. I want to be free.” “Why’d I tell him that, I need to calm down, I can channel too.” “Well, a marath'damane would be a great asset in our “escape” don’t you think?” his grin spoke at a level that dulled the rest of the room. “Hmm… I should at least tell you the plan.”

He sat back down, and continued to stare at her with eyes devoid of light. “So you see, this city is a special seat in the politics of Seanchan. It was first meant to be a governmental test, to see how to best govern a city. But, as you can obviously see, that was a fail. They then stopped bothering with this city. They force criminals into exile here, and won’t let anyone out. And the worst part is that anyone can come in. So imagine if someone knew nothing about this and was stuck here.” As he was explaining this to her she felt a pit of dread starting to build in her, “shit, shit, shit, I could’ve been stuck here.” “It seems that you just realized your position.” he layed back and laughed a little, but then his eyes shook open and he started to look everywhere. “This city is not safe for us you see. Eventually, they’ll realise this farce is useless, use us as a scapegoat. Then they’ll burn everything down with their sul'dam.” he hissed the last part out. “Come on, let's go for a walk.” he stood up, and following him, they left the tavern.

“They’ll come for us, they always come for us.” his eyes lost whatever semblance of sanity they had. The second they came out of the tavern he started this mantra, and continued it for over half an hour. “Hey are you, umm, ok” “light I’m talking to an insane bastard”, “yes yes, I… I am perfection.” he stood up straight, and gained the regality of a god. “Now you see, this city, Uiltea, is to the east of Seanchan, right above the capital. And if we escape, we can run to the border, making a border town to the blight. And. I. Will. Be. A. King.” his regality was gone in an instance and a feverish insanity was left in its wake. “With my power, no Our Power, Saidin and Saidar linked together we can fight anyone who comes in our way. You will join… Right?”, “My only hope for escape.”. “Of course, in a week I will meet you in the north of the city.” All the passion escaped Leigh’s eyes, and a calm husk of a man was left behind. “Really, thank you Leliya, you don’t know what this means to me.” she realized in that instance this wasn’t a man, but a boy no older than her. The insanity left from the power has aged him significantly. He stepped away from her, and after prostrating himself to the ground, he left.

Leliya was taking a stroll around the slums two days after her encounter with Leigh. The slums were full of garbage, unknown liquids, rotten buildings, and the occasional corpse. She was walking down a particularly tight alley near the north surrounded with stone in either side that's covered with stains when she felt something reverberate within her. “Huh! What’s happening?” she heard thunder in the air, but there’s no clouds. She stumbled as a migraine hit her and she gasped, “sul'dam”. To'raken soared the air with damane shooting balls of fire and lighting down into Uiltea. She had to run, she sprinted to the nearest sewage entrance just as a pair of sul'dam and damane landed in front of her. “You, a marath'damane, here” the mix of the grin and the hiss sent shivers down her spine. She immediately filled herself with the power, and her emotions fled leaving a craving in its wake. “Yes, and I’ll never become leashed.”. 

Leliya immediately pulled all the strings around her causing water to erupt from the gutters at ridiculous speeds. The water shredded the damane into pieces, leaving the sul'dam harmless. “Light, I didn’t mean to hurt her.” The sul'dam unsheathed a curved short sword and jumped at her. Leliya grabbed onto some threads of the sul'dam’s body and channeled heat into them. Red steam coming from the sul'dam created a smokescreen which Leliya took advantage of to escape and search for Leigh. 

“Damn it the plan is sent to damnation because of this!” Leigh faced off against 3 pairs of sul'dam surrounding him. He felt goosebumps cover his body and he sank in the sweet power and covered himself in a dome of stone. He hated the power, the voices, the shapes in the dark whenever he channels Saidin, the feeling of drowning in mud, but he’s also mesmerized by the sensations, infatuated with the power… the One Power. The dome was struck, creating a noise like a one tonne bell. In an instant, he changed the dome into a mudslide covering the sul'dam. Then he felt the strings, shifting the very essences of the mud, and a blaze erupted in the mud, killing the sul'dam and damane. “I need to gather as many people as possible and mount a resistance.” He continued in a jog shooting down the occasion to'raken with lighting or fire.

After half an hour of running, shooting down to'raken and soldiers, Leliya ran to the center square of the whole city. “Everyone here is a peasant.” Leliya pulled onto a scrawny old man “Hey! Where are the officials?”. “Huh, there aren’t any you bloody fool! They all escaped with the blood. All that’s left are the people from the slums. Light they’re gonna burn us all to the ground.” The panic in the man’s voice and the cries of the burning in the background is helping with her anxiety. As she ran to the center she saw Leigh on a pedestal, “Listen! We have to escape, I dug us a whole in the northern sewage system. It leads up north into the forests, where we will meet up with another band of freedom fighters.” he must’ve used the power because all the shrieks and cries turned into a battle roar.

“Shit, what the hell I’m I doing? Leigh was an underfed seventeen year old with crippling anxiety, and he’s leading a group of peasants to freedom. He couldn’t help listening to the voices in his head hissing all the things that will happen to the peasants. As his mind was going over the plan he saw an odd figure in the crowd. “The marath'damane”. He jumped off the pedestal letting a vanguard group of cutthroats lead the way north. As the crowd was marching to their imminent death, he walked to the girl, “Leliya?”. “Yo, marath'damane, enjoying the spectacle?” as he spoke he felt his mind slipping somewhere else, somewhere dark. “What's happening here?” she seemed scared, yet in control, interesting how most people look at him like that. “You can’t tell. THE BASTARDS ARE STEALING MY GLORY FROM ME!” he shouted the last part out. No not him, the other voices in him fighting for control.

“Light the bastard’s mad.”, “I mean what are we supposed to do?”. “Ohh, I’ll be in the front making sure the escape is organized. While you protect us from the back.” he started to giggle and walked away before she got to reply. “A rearguard eh”. The escape was a mess, from what she can tell over a thousand people are attempting to take arms and escape. Thousands more are left here to burn though. The stampede of rebels were trampling over each other, killing and injuring dozens. As the crowd were reaching the north sewers, a squad of to'raken started circling above. And a dozen sul'dam landed behind the, power filling both the damane and Leliya she knew a massacre was going to begin.

This was meant to be a simple deployment. Tori was sent here to scour the rebel city. But instead she was left fighting a monster. There used to be a dozen of sul'dam in her squad, but the marath'damane already decapitated half of them with the power. “Light, what is she? I just wanted to help my little brother with his disease. I don’t want to die.” Tears started to fall down Tori’s face as the monster stared at her. The marath'damane was a short, onyx skinned girl, with silver hair, a hawk like face, and a ghastly thinness. And her eyes. They were of the deepest crimson, full of the One Power. Tori commanded her damane to hurl a bolt of lightning to the monster. But the second the power enveloped her she felt an immense pain flowing through her whole body. And Tori’s blood boiled where she stood.

There were three sul'dam left and Leliya was exhausted. She was covered with light burns, cuts, and blood. She tugged at the threads connected to the wind, using it to pop the eyes out the first sul'dam. Then ran to the second one as her damane was filling with power. And Leliya her the power whisper to her “there.”. She channeled to make a thread of pure water, and sliced the second sul'dam in twain. But then the last sul'dam shot a slice of air at her stomach, opening her guts to be seen. Leliya dropped to the ground crying and gasping for air. And it happened again. She couldn’t see anything but darkness. No… a reflective ocean in pure darkness. The waves whispered to her and she channeled to burn the sul'dam and damane. And her stomach was reknit.

“Light!” Leliya shook from what happened, but the exhaustion was creeping up to her and she needed to get to the crowd. She caught up to the crowd who were fighting a score of soldiers. They were beaten to death by over a hundred men with cudgels. The majority of the crowd ran into the sewers leaving the hundred or so rebels with Leliya. “GO HURRY!” she shouted at them hoping they would increase their pace. And, they saluted her, “as you command! Rul’ay!” “Rul’ay eh. That sounds like a title.” “We need to catch up, no one is behind me so I’ll cover the hole once we all get in!”. They continued to salute, then they all ran into the hole in the sewers. From what she can tell no one is after them. So she channeled some power, and a wall of stone plugged the hole.

“LEIGH! How long are we running for?”, “SHUT UP!”, Leigh’s voice echoed through the tunnel he and his sister built a year ago. They’ve been running down it for hours and they’re gonna need to rest soon. “Shit, less than a thousand was able to come due to the invasion. There were supposed to be at least five thousand more rebels. Hopefully, after burning everything to the ground, no one would realise that there were a battalion of dumbasses who escaped.” The nerves were getting on Leigh, and the stress, running, the failure, and most of all, the voices. As they continued to they came to a dead end. And with some channeling, he opened a hole in the wall, which ended up opening up on the side of a hill in the middle of a dense forest. 

After he came out, he shouted at the rebels he brought. “Listen! We’ll camp around this cave for the night. The next morning we’ll march to the ruins of a city, a half day hike in the woods.” he gasped for breath as the mutters started to die down. “There, my sister who has a large force of soldiers, and more importantly around a hundred channelers. When we get there, my sister will debrief you over how you will get your freedom.” A round of cheering circled through the crowd before he had to shout at them to be quiet. He had to spend the next hour tucking everyone in for a good night “bloody idiots”. The stress receded a little bit as he watched everyone sleep, and he regained control over his speech and thoughts. Then he went to sleep, full of nightmares of finally snapping and killing everyone around him.

Leliya was on a steady march for nearly ten hours. After the channeling, running, and now this, she feels like she’ll drop dead. However, “finally”, she saw the crumbling remains of what used to be a forest in the centre of a dead forest. The “forest” around them was of leafless branches and evergreens so thick you can barely see in any direction. The ruins were of an old browning stone brick and was a semicircle with the rest of the fort entering a cave. “Huh, there’s a pond in the cave.”. After some greetings and explanations. Leliya learned that a combined force of five thousand soldiers, with a hundred channelers including Leigh, a male channeler, is camped in this abandoned fort. All of this is led by Leigh’s sister, Faella, the strongest channeler in the army. And their ultimate goal is to carve a city state for themselves near the blight, where the Empress, assumably, wouldn’t bother to control. “A bloody terrible idea.”

A few days had past, and the encampment was bustling. Leliya, walking down the dirt path, heading to meet with Faella, was stressing to the pit and doom and back. “How the hell should I even ask this?”. She stepped into the tent in a cave surrounded by crystals and breathed in sharply. “I need you to train me!”, Leliya could tell by how the general treats her troops that she’ll be hell. “Ahh, you’re the one Leigh told me about. He mentioned that you were powerful in The Power. And I have to agree, you do have high potential.”. She glided to Leliya, and seeing the expanse in the woman’s eyes; her stomach was tightening in fear. “Well I’d love to see you bloom. But, I’d also love to see how far I can push a woman.”.

“Should’ve just let myself be fucking captured.”, Leliya was in a power duel with Faella, fighting to see who could block who first. While simultaneously in a physical duel with a random soldier to see who can cut who first. And throughout all of this, she was being shot at with fire by whatever channeler that walks past her. She was exhausted. But her determination, and her hatred, fueled her way through this hell. Months were spent training like this. Each day she died and was brought back to suffer. Throughout her time here, the general from hell was putting her army in a similar routine. Making sure they’ll all be ready for what is to come. The army has grown to six thousand soldiers, a group of a thousand non-combatants, and the centerpiece, eighty seven channelers including Leigh. The plan is to march north, with multiple vanguard armies predicted to chase and make contact with the main army. Squads of marath'damane leading soldiers are to split and face them, letting the main army continue forward. The man Leliya was facing jumped at her, and in a daze she held him with air. Which led to Faella blocking her from the power, letting the man drop on her, knocking her out with a kick.

The next day, the army was beginning to march. With the logistics set up, they started their search for a land they could call their own. The formation was simple, an arrow-head with a hollow center to let the non combatants drag the supplies. Seven battalions each headed by different number of channelers. While the tip of the arrow was led by twenty seven channelers. With his sister, Leigh was part of the largest circle since the age of legends. But he couldn’t stop letting his paranoia rule him. “What if I fail and burn the power out of everyone? Light! What if I literally burn everyone?”. He just needed to coexist with his thoughts, no matter how tainted. They planned the march and have predicted that after a day of marching the first dispatchment will attack them at night. And there, he will show the world what it means to be mired in true darkness.

The day passed by while the army was marching. The people were exhausted, so they camped out on a hill overlooking a field. Faella planned this to be the first fight. With seven thousand potential slaves, and over eighty marath'damane; this rebellion is a perfect opportunity for the Empire. And true to her prediction, Faella saw the formation of to'raken nearing up down the horizon. Her anxiety was at a whole time high, “why the bloody hell do seven thousand idiots think I’m the perfect bastard to bet their lives on?” She was just a dumbass who didn’t want to become a damane. And now she dragged everyone else with her in her hopeless fight for freedom. While hating herself, she still continued with the plan. She linked with twenty six other women, and Leigh. It will be the largest link to happen in the new age. With Leliya we could overpower any army, but that would’ve placed the rest of the army at risk. So, she placed Leliya in a reserve unit, with one other woman to aid her; in case something goes wrong. 

Leading the link of twenty seven, Faella felt the power of the heavens with her palms. The ocean of Saidar that flowed through her felt tremulating. And in the background Saidin and the taint. Faella heaved all the power into her clasped hands. Drawing through all their power, she intertwined the webs of reality themselves. She didn’t simply make flows. She replicated the flows of the sky above them. These flows are useless on their own. So, she inverted them, exchanging them with the actual threads the sky makes in the pattern of the ages. Allowing her to manipulate the reality that is the sky. “Fucckkkk! I feel like this shit’ll kill the lot of us.” After weaving everything together, she extinguished the ball in her hand. And all the to'raken, the thousands of monsters in the sky just… vanished. Leaving nothing but the weaves of air she made at the beginning. Faella suddenly felt a darkness come over her, and she passed out to the sound of her soldiers ROARING. “My soldiers ehh.”

Leliya dropped to the ground gasping for air. The other woman with her, Ama was her name. Was already on her knees with her jaw dropped. Everyone looked at them anxiously. Well they wouldn’t know what's happening. How could they? This is the most of the One Power that Leliya has ever seen. And the threads being woven, they were of an infinite complexity. How can you even begin to comprehend something like this? Let alone explaining to someone else. And the result was terrifying, she couldn’t help but cry, “they just… disappeared.” Then out of nowhere, coming from the edge of her senses, she heard the clashes of steel and shouts. Immediately she came to from her daydreaming. And a small skirmish was being played out in front of her. And Leliya began to wheeze. “This is the dumbest shit I’ve ever seen.”, she tried gasping for air but it was all too much. “Could they not tell what just happened. Literally their whole army was just decimated.” She began straightening up, and linked to the other women she started weaving. Tying all the powers together, she boiled blood of the enemy combatants. Then continued to ponder on the power she just witnessed.

Leigh was leading the arrow of the march the next day. With Faella resting from last night. It was up to him to protect the march from the upcoming forces meant to take them down. Sometimes, Leigh is terrified shitless from his sister. The whole point of yesterday was not meant to simply kill a bunch of flying beasts. But it was all a bait. They do not understand how much power the circle could create. In a few days, a large army will attack the rear, where Leliya, our ace, will be positioned. He started to smile, “Light, sometimes I think the creator made Faella just to watch the world burn.” Linked to one other woman, he began channeling the power. Hurling balls of death to the upcoming armies.

They all woke up early in the morning, and continued on their march. This will be the fifth day since the start of the march. Positioned at the back of the arrow formation. Leliya was eating while trotting on the horse. Today is her time to shine. Various small forces will be attacking the tip of the arrow. Which will be fended off by Faella and a small vanguard force. After the decisive victory the first night, the Empire finally sent out a large army to stomp out this rebellion. “The Empress should be pissed as all hell after losing several battalions worth of to'raken, and who knows how many sul'dam.” She could barely eat due to her increasing anticipation. Once she finished her meal, she heard the sounds of an army in pursuit. According to Faella, they would send an army of twenty thousand soldiers. Sul'dam and various beasts should be found in that army. As the army cleared the horizon, Leliya dropped her reins in shock. Pure terror echoed through her soul, “impos…”.

“SHIT! WE NEED TO RUN!” Leigh galloped with a mad fury full of despair and anger. Leliya cried out to the coming onslaught, “That is not twenty fucking thousand people.” This is the first time he saw fear through the other woman’s eyes. “No… it is not”, this is also the first time he’s ever seen his sister wrong. “That is more than double our prediction. I can’t even tell how many bastards there are. We can’t possibly fight them. We’re going to have to accelerate our plans and see if we can distract the army and make a run for it.”. With a sigh of resignation, he sent a smoke signal using the power to notify his sister that the plan failed. In a second he got his reply, a large green smoke cloud reached the sky. “IS SHE FUCKING MAD”, “wha, what does green mean”. Leigh couldn’t even think of a response through his anger. Then, at the back of his mind he felt something stir. He didn’t stand a chance against the other voices in him. Leigh’s given up, the problem is now no longer in his hands. But in its hands. Uncontrollable laughter came out of him as he rejoiced in joy. “It means we fight.”.

Leliya sat there frozen with fear as an army of what must be fifty thousand marched to her. She was just a kid, a dumbass, just a little girl who couldn’t handle watching her sister become a sul'dam. And now, she was forced to die here in a godforsaken field. From nowhere a pit of anger coalesced in her stomach. No not anger… but visceral hatred. She roared, with the power behind her, pushing her, compelling her to kill. She could do anything. “LINK WITH ME! I WILL KILL ALL OF THEM WHERE THEY STAND!”. She linked with Leigh and the other marath'damane. And she could feel the pure fury paralleled to nothing but hers seething within him. Leigh trotted up to her and hissed with intent, “I’ll let you start for now.” Smiling, Leliya pulled the power from everyone, and to her shock came the emotions. Her and Leigh weren’t the only ones wishing for death. She looked at the upcoming army and saw an explosion of little threads coming from each person. Staring at all the bolts of lighting coming from the sul'dam, she roared and charged into the fray. 

Vision completely bloodshot. Leliya shot fireballs everywhere with no coordination. Then out of nowhere she was tackled into the ground. It was a sul'dam with her damane. She started to laugh with merth. The look in the sul'dam’s face was perfect. Weaving fire, she boiled the blood from the sul'dam. Then walking to the damane, with fury raging within her. The fear she could see in the damane filled her with glee. She pulled out her knife and ran it through the damane’s heart. The power within her left her completely oblivious to the outside world. But it didn’t matter, because she just needed to kill.

Channeling the fury and power thrumming within her, she split a hole within reality. A whole to nowhere, and sent it flying to the army. Slicing in two whatever’s getting in its way. Roaring with all she has, she weaved together hundreds of little splits in reality, shooting it to the enemy. She continued to laugh, then she infused each split with a little bit of power. And the sky blew up in a mosaic of explosions. Each split shooting out multi coloured fire, lighting, and explosions. Immediately after that, she weaved together the powers of earth and water. And all the weaves in the ground shifted, causing a massive mudslide halting the oncoming army. However, she still didn’t stop. How could she? She continued weaving The Power, raining death to the prevailing army. The whole time the opposing sul'dam were hurling lightning at them. But they all disintegrated before her might. “I can’t take this anymore! I need to have control. Leliya! Switch with me.” Leigh’s frenzied look further stoked her anger. 

The power flooding Leigh’s veins was ecstatic. After sitting through hours of strategy lectures from Faella. He now has a vague understanding of how to hit the army the hardest. Leliya’s rampage left thousands of soldiers dead, and twice that number disabled. There were still over forty thousand bastards hunting them. So, he channeled the powers, and split earth to his right side. Forcing the army to maneuver to his left. The front was barricaded by Leliya’s channeling. He then froze the sky above his left side. A slate of ice, meters in length, and several squared kilometers in surface area dropped. Killing hundreds. The army messed up and doubled back into the army that was still escaping to his left. Then he rained lighting to that center successfully splitting the army in two. Then he heaved. Pulling together all the power he could, he split the ground in front of him. He started to retreat north to his main army while still expanding the chasm within him and the invaders. Leigh whimpered in his head, “I can’t handle this much power. He’s going to kill all of us.” After splitting a ravine a kilometer across, he, reluctantly, let go of the power. Coming to his senses, Leigh fell to his knees weeping at the result of their rampage.

“Light…” Leliya fell to her knees. Vomiting out blood, bile, and everything she’s ever eaten. Tears started streaming down her cheeks. Pure anguished rolled through her in waves. She cried because of her pain, for the actions she took, for the uselessness of it all. All around her were ashes. Charred skeletons. The whole battalion that was with her were vaporized. Dead by her actions. By her Power. Even the women she linked with were dead. Twisted bones laid everywhere. “AGHFHH!” she couldn’t stop her screaming, her crying. Everyone died, by her hands. Through the corpses she heard crying… someone else’s tears. Leigh stood up under the pile of bones. Blood gushing down his face. They looked at each other crying, then they both looked at the chasm. A ravine where an army with thousands of casualties, over ten thousand must have been killed. With two armies isolated and handicapped. “We have to go back and meet with the rest.” more cries were the only response she got. She turned around to head back. But she froze. The damane she stabbed earlier. She laid there motionless, and for the first time she had a clear sight of who the damane was. A shattering screech came out of Leliya as she fell to the body of the damane. How could she have not noticed. The dark skin, grey hair, her chubby cheeks. “Light. Teila, I’m,” she couldn’t form the words. She just knew she hated herself.

“Im sorry Leigh.” Faella stood there, feeling the immense power that was manifesting to the south of her. She knew that the Empire wouldn’t stand the loss of over a thousand to'raken. And seven thousand rebels that spat in their faces. She knew that there was going to be more than just twenty thousand soldiers coming for them. She couldn’t tell him tho. The only way to halt an army like that is to sacrifice. “This is for the freedom we always wished for.” A battalion of soldiers from Uiltea. The twenty six marath'damane, Leliya, and… “fuck me, I’m a horrible person. And a shitty sister ”. It took everything she had to hold in her tears. A general has to be strong, even if it's just a facade. Staring at the squads of soldiers crashing to her front. She breathed in the power. To wash away her tears, and the memory of the only family she ever had. 

That night Faella set up an encampment near a hill. She was making her rounds around the camp, checking for anything that’s a miss. In reality though she’s just trying to distract herself from what she did. Distracted, she heard shouts from across the camp. “FAELLA! COME HERE!” A ball of fear started to coalesce in her stomach. “What is it? An army?” She sprinted as hard as she could with the power moving her. She got to the edge of the barricade, and in the darkness she saw a giant figure closing up. No… two figures, with one carrying the other. Faella immediately dropped to the ground and wept. “I'm sorry”, the words were barely audible over her tears. The figures were Leliya, carrying a near dead Leigh on her back. She looked horrid. Blood soaked, burnt, covered with rags, and her eyes. There was nothing in them, the violet iris with no shine. Her skin was covered with cracks, each one seeping blacked blood. A wretched groan left the half corpse of a girl. The soldiers rushed out to grab her before she fell. And Faella just stayed bowed into the ground. Hating herself for what she’s done, but also, glad beyond understanding.

Two days later, Faella was leading the army in a triangle formation. Leliya and Leigh are still sleeping after the battle. Surprisingly, no battles have happened in the past two days. Not even a single skirmish. Only one week left before they reach the sea separating the land. Where they will cross to reach mountain passes. And settle near the blight. Like the stories of the border countries across the Aryth ocean. She heard murmured whispers behind her as she turned to see the commotion. And Leigh trotted to her on his horse. A voice in her head started to boom, telling her how shit she is. “Yo”, “hey Leigh”. They stared at each other for a minute with a chilling silence in the air. “Leliya is still asleep. It's for the better tho, because I think she’ll try to kill you if she hears this.” Faella felt her throat dry. He hissed a quiet whisper, “you sacrificed us. You knew that was the only way to get them away from us. And considering no battles have happened yet. I think your decision was the right choice.” Then lowering his pitch he continued, “you’ve become worse than the Empire.” The words cut, but she couldn’t argue with them.

Leliya woke up to the crack of dawn. “Light!”, discovering that she spent nine days sleeping has taken a toll on her. As the army began to start their march, all the memories came rushing to her. She stumbled and fell before her horse. The noises in her head deafened her. And tears began streaming down her cheeks. She was too tired to even make noise, no shouts, no cries. “Light! Teila, I’m so sorry.” She got on her horse, and continued to suffer as she caught up to the head of the army.

Once Leliya caught up, the army stopped their march. And facing them was the bit of sea that separated them from their freedom. The loss she felt still throbbed within her. She couldn’t live on like this. But she needed to. Faella’s plan was to raid a port town of all their boats and sail to the other side. But between them and the little bit of sea stood an army larger than any Leliya has ever seen before. In the sight of all those people lined up all her memories were forgotten. And all that was left was a feeling of pure shock, and amazement. Counting that much would be useless. So, she went up to Faella trembling. “Wha… What are we going to do?” She didn’t get a reply. Faella just stood there, stone faced, and she turned her head to look at Leliya. “Have you ever heard any stories about Aes Sedai?”, “wha… no.”.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, light, shit fuck!” Faella’s stomach, no her very soul, twisted inside. She had no hope. That army had to easily be larger than two hundred thousand. How did they even know where to position? She couldn’t have been the first person to think of a rebelion like this one. A curtain of dread washed over, drowning her. She looked at the little girl beside her, Leliya. She couldn’t be older than thirteen and Faella already tried to sacrifice her once. If… if she will lead everyone to their death, she might as well leave a remnant alive. No, she must leave a remnant alive. “Aes Sedai means servants of all. Across the Aryth ocean, women who can channel are each treated like queens. They have rights and privileges only the blood are even allowed to dream of. They are free women. Free marath'damane.” It was a struggle holding her tears in, only the power let her voice stay calm. “Go there, take five hundred men with you. There are eight hundred non combatants left alive. Take them with you along with thirty marath'damane and Leigh. Attack Muiltea, it is a small port town facing the east. Steal three ships and escape. Fight your way to freedom Leliya, BECOME AES SEDAI!” she shouted the last part out. Looked at her, she could've been a little sister in another weave. She couldn’t hold it in any longer, she started to cry. Hugging her speechless little sister.

After Faella let go of her she went to Leigh. “Yo,” a grunt was his only reply back. She placed her hand into her pocket and let out a little black ring, filled with her blood. “Honestly, I never expected to gain anything from my plan. I think I was just looking for a place to die.” He looked at her then, “So, you don’t have a plan.” She smiled a little, “I always have a plan dumbass. Go to Leliya, she'll tell you about it. She feels like a little sister to me.” they looked at each other. And the voice that came out of Leigh was one she never heard before. “Well, considering you tried to kill the both of us. I guess her and I have a lot in common. It’s funny to think that it's all useless in the end. I guess… What I hate the most about all of this is that I still love you. And I’ll go, I think I can already guess the plan.” He looked at her then. And the feeling of guilt was strong enough to shatter her connection with the power. “Thank you… And, I want you to know. Everything that I’ve ever done, I’ve done to try to make your life better.” “I know.” He left, leaving Faella fidgeting with the little ring.

It was called a bloodknife ring. Faella stood there in front of the massive army and held onto it. She had a talent that made her desirable for the Empire. She can make ter'angreal. This is one she stole from an assassin that tried to kill her a few years back. And she spent every second with it changing it, adding on to it. And she made a special ter'angreal out of it. One that leaves the user for certain death. Ten seconds is all she has, but that ten seconds is blessed with immortality. She trotted to the front of her army on her horse, and faced her army. Murmurs spread through the crowd, and in a few seconds, silence fell. “LISTEN! Today is the last day for all of us. Today is the day we also become history. WE WILL BECOME A LEGEND LIKE NO OTHER! RALLY TO ME! FIGHT FOR! FIGHT FOR FREEDOM!” Among her power enhanced speech, the other army must’ve heard her. She forced her horse to a sprint, and behind her they came. An army of idiots, with the loyalty to make the dark one jealous.

She neared the massive army, and seeing them roar with lighting and fire. She activated her ter'angreal. Ten seconds of immortality. Then she truly felt the One Power for the first time ever. She held more power than any person has ever held. The immortality will let her pull as much as she wishes, limitless. The twelve other women with her disappeared from the pattern from the strain of Saidar. But she continued to pull. She bled the power out of the Wheel till she felt the world slow. And then she wove. The sky split above her as she felt herself becoming one with the Pattern. Massive flaming boulders the size of castles fell from the sky. Wasting no time she split holes into reality, sucking soldiers to another realm. Then she merged the sky together into a hurricane, a hurricane of pure lighting killing everyone around her. She felt herself expanding, watching as her soldiers as they were runned down by enemies who then burned to death. She continued to kill with precision despite the planetary amount of power in her. Splitting earth and the sea to flood the enemy army. She continued to weave death till the pattern dragged her away. To a place far away. She left watching as her army continued to struggle, as they fought for her, with her, for freedom. She closed her eyes, and felt herself become free.

Leliya ran. With Leigh to her side and the army behind her they continued to run. She felt the power erupting behind her to her north. More power then she has ever drawn in the circle, enough power to shatter the very heavens. But she focused, and ran. She felt the power cry for her. So she grabbed onto it. Mixing it with the threads of the people around her. And they flew. They were on this pace till darkness covered the land. Throughout the whole ride, Teila’s terrified face haunted her. Yet they continued. They all understood what was happening. Five thousand people, sacrificing themselves, so they could run. So they ran, crying for each one of them. But Leliya knew, she knew that this is for the better. They ran so they can leave the Empire, they ran to somewhere they will be accepted. The second night has passed after Faella and her army have sacrificed themselves. They all dropped from exhaustion after two days straight of exhaustion. Tomorrow, they will reach the port town, and sail away. 

The next day they continued to run. Eventually, they arrived in the town, it was devoid of soldiers. Leliya gasped at the sight of the ocean. The ocean breeze was revitalizing. “Shit, you’d love this Teila.” There were some docks at the ocean side with a few ships. The bright sky and the beautiful weather was an ironic juxtaposition to the actions she’s about to take. She raised her hand and they stormed the docks. The five hundred soldiers easily took down all the guards. And the ships were easily secured. The five hundred Faella has given her were already trained for the sea. As her original plan needed seven thousand to sail. They all mounted the boats and sailed away from the town. She minimized casualties and didn’t allow anyone to be killed. “Light, it was only a year ago that I cried from a knee scrape.” Feeling a wave of nostalgia paralleled to the ocean, she sailed. 

If thoughts were believed to whisper, Leigh’s mind would be a testament to the theory. Every single thought his mind makes lately has been by a different man. He can’t hold it in any longer. Standing on the swaying ocean, his mind has collapsed in a frenzy. “We can’t live! No he’s right we have to die. NO! Trust me, we have to live, we can control the world.” And the worst of all his voices was the one crying over Ilyena. With whispers of “dragon” echoing through his skull. He was staring at the burning sun, unable to make a thought of his own. After hours of cowering from the voices, he heard shouts from outside his head. He stared at what must be fighting, devoid of his own emotions. And played the only role he could, as a link.

Leliya was having a full blown panic attack as she gazed upon the fleet of ships and to'raken carrying the sul'dam. “How? Half a day didn’t even pass yet.” The other marath'damane looked back at her, looking like they’re on the brink of tears. “Light, fine link up! They have ten boats while we have four. In a kite formation we’ll try to fend them off. An extended circle facing west will try to destroy the fleet, while the other three marath'damane protect our flanks.” Anxiety fumed through her as she linked with the circle. She couldn’t mess this up again. She needs control, she needs to get these boats to the other side. Memories of Teila rose up as she linked. She can’t do this again. But she continued. The Power flew within her, paralleled to the water she’s sailing. She faced Leigh, and he just sat there, staring at his feet, muttering. “Light, it’s all on me I guess”. Leliya saw the explosion of threads from the other fleet, and she channeled. 

Weaving together wind and water, waves the size of walls erupted from the ocean beside them. She needed to focus on keeping her fleet alive, the enemy is just a distraction. The sky darkened with all the power being channeled. And she saw the army of to'raken. Each one carrying a sul'dam. A thousand of them. Against a mere thirty. The power within her ebbed with anticipation. She could feel it stir, coming to life. So she closed her eyes, and felt the threads that make life. Pulling on them, massive bolts of lighting crashed into the flying sul'dam, each bolt the size of an avalanche. But the sul'dam were unharmed. She felt the power cower. “How?”. She changed her plan, she pulled on the threads of the sky. Leaving the space the to'raken flew in airless. Last time she did this the victims popped like cherries. But nothing happened. Anxiety began to cripple her inside. “Nothing is working! Someone else needs to take control.” She didn’t want it to come out as a plea. Leigh looked at her and mumbled, “they’re cutting the threads of power leaving them untouched.” His mumble turned into a wicked laugh. And his eyes faced her, they looked like they were melting from the strain of the power. “They think they know everything. They don’t understand. I am the power!”.

Leigh jumped up laughing hysterically. He felt all his little voices cry to him, begging for him to stop. Weaving the tremendous power he flew to the to'raken. He could feel the shock emanating from the link. Wielding the power, massive columns of ice coalesced into the air. Taking down the sul'dam. Then he weaved lightning to cry from the sky. All he heard was a clap, and dozens of to'raken fell. Then he pulled on the ocean, the voices in him coming to a crescendo. A massive wave erupted from the waters. A jet the size of a jagged mountain, and half the fleet was destroyed. Along with hundreds of sul'dam that evaporated from the strength of the water jet. He felt his mind boiling from the voices and the strain of the power. Pure agony covered his body. He felt his ears and eyes pop from the pressure of the power. But he could still feel. Pulling on whatever threads he can grab on. Massive spirals of liquid fire erupted from the ocean vaporizing even more sul'dam. Pure pain tore through his mind. And he felt his left arm, from the shoulder disintegrate from a lighting strike. Crying from the pain, he fell into the water. And time felt like it stopped. For the first time in his life, he felt pure. No voices, no shouts, no pain, no taint. He felt wonderful. His mind, clear, finally to himself. In his moment of lucidity he felt himself fade into the darkness. Content. And his corpse slammed into the waves. To be washed clean. 

“LEIGHHH!” Leliya fell to the deck. Curled into a little ball and cried. “I can’t do this anymore.” She felt herself heave from her tears. “Why me? Why do I always live? Teila, Faella, Leigh. I lead everyone to their death eventually. And this little remnant will join them soon.” Writhing in agony, shouting out all the emotion she pent up. She felt a heat bloom inside her. Saidar, everpresent. And with it, the twelve other women linked to her. She felt their worries, their fear, and among all the sadness and sorrow. A singular feeling stood atop the rest, pushing her, moving her. It was their hope. Leigh took down more than half the fleet, and only a few dozen sul'dam were left. She felt their hope stab through her again. Motivating her to fight again. Standing up she roared with all she had. “WE WILL WIN! WE WILL ESCAPE! WE WILL GET OUR FREEDOM!” Heat from the power still ebbing within her. She wove the threads together, and channeled the ocean to her command. And the ocean, the embodiment of freedom. Called to her.

Leliya screamed. She got it wrong, she doesn’t need to kill. She just needed to live. Feeling the voice of the ocean within her she split the ocean. Her ships flew at tremendous speeds. With the sul'dam impaired, she’s left channeling for her heart desire. The enemy's feet soared the other side from the power of the ocean. A valley formed between the two fleets as she escaped. The whole plan from the beginning was just to escape. So she ran. With the waters pushing her way, her fleet soared down the Aryth ocean. The heat within her washing away her doubts, for the very concept of freedom is in her palms. She then let go of the power, and as the water calmed, she looked around. The ships were busted, but everyone was alive. The darkness from the sky being reclaimed to their origin. The sun flared in her degraded fleet. Feeling the breeze flow through her hair she began to cry. The first tears of joy she felt in what must be ages. Everyone looked at her, sharing the same tears. “WE DID IT! WE ARE ALL FREE!”.

Epilogue

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. Yet in this Age, a story was born, a story unparalleled under the wheel. A story to forever be remembered. Her fight for freedom, her story of yearning, will be told again and again. To be a story woven into the Web means to fight for what you believe. And this story stood above all else, being entwined into the Pattern of the Ages. To be told across all Ages. To be told for every turn the Wheel takes, till the Wheel stops. For this story is of a hero who fought for freedom. Faella, a hero unlike any other. A hero for all the Ages to recite.


End file.
